Radio Rookies

Radio Rookies® is a New York Public Radio® initiative that provides teenagers with the tools and training to create radio stories about themselves, their communities and their world. Since 1999, Radio Rookies has been conducting workshops across New York, in predominantly under-resourced neighborhoods, training young people to use words and sounds to tell true stories. Upon completion, the Rookies' documentaries air on WNYC - usually during Morning Edition (5am to 9am weekdays on WNYC 93.9 FM, 6am to 10am on WNYC AM 820 and online at wnyc.org) Some documentaries also air nationally, often on NPR's All Things Considered. Radio Rookies typically runs one or two workshops a year, each lasting anywhere from four to eight months. During the workshops, Rookie Reporters learn everything about radio journalism: from how to conduct an interview and develop a story to how to craft a script and digitally edit their audio. There is no fee, and the program provides all the equipment and instruction needed.

Series

This Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award winning series includes reports told by Staten Island Radio Rookies on everything from surviving Facebook drama to life in the foster care system to coming out as gay in the age of Lady Gaga.

The 2010 Radio Rookies Queens broadcast workshop was in partnership with the Flushing YMCA. The Queens Rookies reported stories about everything from gangs in schools, to what it’s like to have your dad deployed in Afghanistan, to online girl gamers.

The 2012 Radio Rookies Manhattan broadcast workshop was held in partnership with the McBurney YMCA on 14th Street in Manhattan. The Rookies' stories explore topics ranging from the immigration experience, to living with sickle cell disease, to the sexual harassment of teen girls on social media sites.